The Effectiveness And Safety Of Electro-Acupuncture And Warm Acupuncture For The Treatment Of Cervical Spondylotic Radiculopathy. A Randomized Clinical Trial

Objective:A randomized clinical trial was designed to investigate the efficacy and safety of electro-acupuncture (EA) and warm acupuncture (WA) for the treatment of Cervical Spondylotic Radiculopathy (CSR).Methods:60 patients met the inclusion and exclusion criteria and were randomly divided into 2 groups of 30 patients each:an EA group and WA group. The EA group was treated by electric acupuncture applied to cervical jiaji points; the WA group was treated by warm acupuncture applied to cervical jiaji points. In addition other acupuncture points were used according to TCM syndrome differentiation. Treatments were applied for 30 minutes each time, once a day,5 times a week over 2 consecutive weeks. The Total Tanaka Yasuku Skore (TTYS) was employed as the main evaluation index and the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) as a secondary evaluation index. The efficacy of both treatment methods was evaluated by comparing baseline parameters before and after treatment in each group and between different TCM syndrome types. The safety of both treatment methods was evaluated the by comparing the adverse reaction cases between the two groups.Results:The difference in age, sex, medical history, TTYS and VAS before treatment had no statistical difference (P>0.05) between two groups. The baseline of the two groups was consistent and comparable. The difference in TTYS and VAS before and after treatment had significantly statistical significance (P<0.01) in the two groups. The TTYS’s change and the VAS’s change had no statistical difference (P>0.05) between two groups. The TTYS’s change and the VAS’s change had no statistical difference (P>0.05) between different TCM syndrome types. The adverse reaction cases had no statistical difference (P>0.05) between the two groups.Conclusion:The results of this study showed that both electric acupuncture and warming acupuncture are effective and safe methods of treatment for CSR. The efficacy and the safety of two treatments are equal. Electric acupuncture on Jiaji points and warming acupuncture on Jiaji point have the same clinical effectiveness for all TCM syndrome types, therefore any syndrome type of CSR could be treated effectively by electric acupuncture or warm acupuncture.